Supplying apparatus



May 14, 1929. PQPE 1,712,581

SUPPLYING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 5, 1927 up dd Patented May 14, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER R. POPE, 0F HAMILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR 'IO UNITED SHOE 1VA- GHINERY CORPORATION, OF FATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION NEJV JERSEY.

SUPPLYING APPARATUS.

Application filed January 5, 1927.. Serial No. 159,115.

The present invention relates to apparatus for supplying nails or other tastening's. lt is particularly designed for furnishing nails for such Work as the attaching of heels.

For purposes of the character above indi (rated, a successful apparatus is that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,325,751, Pope, December 23, 1,919. In this, a block, holding in vertical openings each containing nail, a plurality ol loads or sets of nails, is fed in successive steps to deliver these. nails to the loading mechanism of a heel-attaching machine, said block being replaced by another when the nails are exhausted. Under some conditions, as when a heeling ope 'ator is very rapid, it found that the act of shifting the blocks occupies a substantial portion of his time, this markedly decreasing his elliciency. An object of this invent-ion is to increase the holding capacity of such supply' e' apparatus, without materially increasing, its cost and without adding to the burden of the operator in effecting the delivery of the fastenings.

l attain this end by the employment of a holder, in which the fastenings, ordinarily nails, are disposed in a. plurality of series preferably arranged in sets, with which cooperates means which delivers and counts such deliveries from a set, together with means controlled by the counting means for preparing another set for delivery. hen this invention is applied to the nail-block of the previously mentioned patent, it will be seen that the capacity 01": the system may be increased to whatever extent it is teasible to lengthen the series. I prefer to arrange the series vertically, the nails standinn end upon end, there being a plurality of these series, furnishing the previously mentioned set, containing a load of nails for the machine supplied. The delivery from all the series of each set issimultaneously controlled. lhe delivery from the entire series in the set having been made, another set brought into delivering position, without attention on the part of the operator. As shown herein, the passages in the holder in which the series of nails are contained, and which may be furnished by tubes seed in openings in top and bottom plates, 've (to-operating); with them a cont-rolling member, in the :form of a detent, provided with portions alternately contacting with the terminal nails oi the series. This controlling member, if desired, may be common to a set of the series of nails, it having nail-engaging portions corresponding to each series. To bring about the delivery of the nails most etl'ectively, I utilize the device or loader which transfers them to the heeler or other machine. only actuate the controlling member by which successive delivery of the load of nails from one or more series, is made, but may also bring other series to delivering position. I have shown the loader, when in nailreceiving position, as operating the nailcontrolling detent member and rotating an operationcounting ratchet-wheel. The latter, after a number of steps corresponding to the nails in a series, may, through a contact member or cam which it governs, opcrate ratchet mechanism advancing a carriage or holder-support over a plate through openings inwhich successive loads of nails are delivered.

One of several possible embodiments of this invention is illustrated in the acconr panying d 'awing, in which Fig. 1 is a broken side elevation of my improved supplying apparatus;

Fig. 2, a broken end elevation looking them the left in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3, a perspective view of a portion of the. detent mechanism.

A supportingbracket 10 is adapted to be attached to the frame of a heeling machine, and has mounted upon it, upon standards 12, the bed-plate 14 of the, patented machine, of which mention has been made. Depending from the plate is a tube-holding frame or mug 16, the tubes 18 of which lead from a transverse series of delivering openings 20 in the bed-plate to a foot-plate 22, where they are arranged in accordance with the nailing design to be employed. Movable in horizontal ways at the opposite or upper. side of the plate 14 is a carriage 2st adapted to support a nail-holder or magazine. This holder is shown as consisting of relatively thin blocks or plates 26 and 28, spaced from each other and containing transverse sets of openings, each equal in number to the nn ixi'ni'um load of nails to he delivered.

.1? hits of openings extend in parallel This may not i lines from one extremity of the plates to the other. In both plates, the openings are similarly arranged so they are in vertically alined pairs, which are joined by tubes 30 secured at each end in the respective plateopenings; The diameter of each tube is such that it is adapted to hold a vertical series of nails N resting end upon end. As many as twelve nails may be held in each tube, being temporarily retained in place by a plate 82, upon which the point of the bottom nail rests. This plate has inturned ends 34 entering grooves in the opposite edges of the plate 26, and may thus be slid longitudinally thereof to free the openings of the holderpassages. The holder is advanced step by step over the plate 14 by ratchet mechanism, which may include a series of teeth 36 carried by the plate, with which teeth co-op- .erates a pawl 38 pivoted on a lever 40 fulcrumed at 42 on a bracket 43 secured to one of the standards 12.

As the above-described ratchet mechanism is operated, in a manner which will laterbe described, the transverse sets of holder-passages are successively brought through the travel of the holder into registration with the plate-openings 20. As the series of nails descend by gravity in the passages, the terminal nail in each strikes the lower projection 44 of a controlling detent 46, and with the entire series is temporarily held thereby. The detent appears as a bar mounted beneath the plate to oscillate about pivots 4S, and may becommon to the entire set of passages, having a plurality of the projections 44 spaced from one another. Above these is a similarly arranged series of projections 50. In the oscillation of the bar upon its pivot-s, the projections' 44 and 50 are alternately carried into nail-retaining position, and withdrawn to releasing position through slots 52 in the upper sections of the mug-tubes 18. After each projection 44 has freed the terminal nail of the series so that itfalls through the corresponding tube 18, the associated projection 50 contacts and retains the succeeding nail, which now terminates the series. In this way, delivery of the nails one by one is effected with certainty.

Mounted to swing upon the frame of the heeling machine is a deviceby which the nails are transferred from the supplying apparatus to the inserting mechanism of the machine. .I-Ierein it appears in the form of the well-known loader-arn'i 54, the nail-receiving block I of which contains openings which may be brought into registration with the openings in the foot-plate, in which the tubes18 terminate. In this receiving position, a cam-incline 56 upon the loader-arm contacts with a roll 58 rotatable upon the lower end of a rod 59 depending from an arm 60 upon the double detent 46. This rod is guided in the bracket 43, and is held normally down into the path of the incline 56 of the loader by a spring (54 surrounding the rod and located between the braclzet and a collar 66 secured to the rod. As the open ings of the loader-block move into aliue ment with the foot-plate openings, the incline 56 raises the rod 59 sulliriently to produce the oscillation of the detent 46, resulting in the release by the projections 44 of the entire set of terminal nails from the series in the holder-passages alincd with the plateopenings 20 and the engagement of the succeeding nails by the projections 50. \Vhcn the loader-arm is swung in the reverse direction to transfer the nails to the die-block of the heeler, the release of the rod 59 by the cam-incline allows the spring ()4 to restore the detent to its initial position. This frees the terminal nails from the projections 50 and causes the entire series in the forward set to descend, and be caught by the projections 44. In each upward movement of the rod, a pawl 68, pivoted upon the journals of the roll 58, engages a tooth in a ratchetwheel 70 rotatable upon the bracket 43, and turns this wheel through an angle which will depend upon the number of nails constituting each series in the holder-passages. Thus the loads of nails are counted, and a setting of the ratchet-wheel given for the delivery of each load from the magazine-tubes under the control of the detent 46. Upon the reverse or downward stroke of the rod 59, a spring 72, which holds the pawl normally in its working position, permits this to yield, so no effect is produced upon the ratchet-wheel. Rotatable with the ratchet-wheel a camprojection 74, which, after all the nails have been discharged from a set of the holderpassages and the ratchet-wheel has consequently completed 360 degrees of rotation,

contacts with a roll 76 upon the lover-arm 40 of the carriage-operating mechanism. The holder is thereby advanced to carry the now empty set of passages away from the plateopenings 20 and bring the succeeding set of passages into delivering position.

Considering the holder to be full of nails and in its initial position with the first set of passages over the plate-openings 20, the bottom nails of the entire transverse set of series which is to supply the first load will be held between the walls of the. upper extremities of the tubes 18 and the projections 44 of the detent 4(3. The operator, before treadling the heeling machine. swings the loader-arm 22 from its co-operation with the die-block to its receiving position beneath the foot-plate of the mug. Here it olovates the rod 59 to oscillate the detent, thus releasing a set of the nails from the passages by the retreat of the projections -14 from them, at the same time catching the succeeding nails of the series throughout the set by the projections 50. The rod at the lit) same time, through the pawl 68, turns the ratchet-wheel to count the nail-delivery. The next movement of the loader to deliver to the die-block of. the heeli'ng machine allows the rod 59 to fall and the'detent'projections id to come into position to retain nails released bythe projections 50, thus restoring the system to normal. Thiscontinues until all the series of nails in the forward set have been delivered, at which time the cam 74, as a result of the complete rotation of the ratchet-wheel 70, will have reached the roll 6 of the carriage ratchet mechanism. By this, the carriage is advanced for one step, and the next set of nailpassages brought into delivering relation with the plate-openings, where they are held by the detent-projections 44. This operation may go on until the series "of nails in all the sets have been used, when the empty holder will be removed and a fresh one filled with nails substituted. It should be observed that by this apparatus, not only is the operators burden in shifting the nail-holding devices greatly reduced, but the cost of production of these devices, considering their capacity, is also substantially decreased. l i ith the nail-holding block of Patent No.

1,325,751, the cost of drilling the openings,

each of which contains but a single nail, is considerable. With my holder, but two plates at the top and bottom require to be drilled for the reception of twelve nails in a passage.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is! 1-. A supplying apparatus comprising means for holding a plurality of series 01 tastenings arranged in sets, means for delivering individual fastenings from each of the series of a set, means arranged to count the deliveries, and means controlled by the counting means for preparing another set tor delivery. e

2. A supplying apparatus comprising a holding member having openings arranged in and each adapted to contain a series of tastenings, means arranged to control the successive delivery of tastenings from all the series of a set, and means acting upon the completion of delivery fromsaid set tor bringing another set into delivering position.

3. A supplying apparatus comprising a holding member arranged to contain a plurality of series of nails arranged in a set, means arranged to control simultaneously from all the series of. a set the successive delivery of nails one by one from each series, and means acting upon the completion of delivery from the set for bringing another set into delivering position.

4. A. supplying apparatus comprising a holding member arranged to contain a 111 rality of series of nails, each series consisting of nails standing end upon end, controlling means arranged to permit the successive descent oli nails in a series, and means governed with the controlling means for bringing another series into cooperation with the controlling means.

5. A supplying apparatus comprising a holding member arranged to contain aplurality of vertical series of nails, a supporting member upon which the holding member travels bodily in a horizontal direction, nail-controlling means associated with the supporting member, and means for moving the holding member upon the supporting member to bring different series into cooperation with the controlling means.

6. A supplying apparatus comprising tubes, a member having nail-holding pus- :ages' movable into alincment with the tubes, and means associated with the tubes for controlling the delivery of nails from the pas sages to said tubes.

7. A supplying apparatus comprising tubes, a member having nail-holding pas sages movable into alinement with the tubes, and. an oscillatory controlling member movable through the Walls of the tubes into engagement with the nails.

8. In a nail-supplying apparatus, a movable holder having a passage arranged to contain nails in a vertical series, a deliverycontrolling member provided with portions alternately contacting with terminal nails ot the series, and means arranged to govern the movement of the holder during the con trol of delivery.

9. In a nail-supplying apparatus, a traveling holderhavin g a passage arranged to con tain nails in a vertical series, an oscillatory detent provided with spaced projections ar ranged to alternately retain and release terminal nails of the series, and CODI'IOO'lTlOHS to the detent arranged to govern the holder in its travel.

10. In a nail sup 'ilying apparatus, a holder having a set of passages each aranged to contain a series of nails, and a. movable delivery-controlling member common to all the series of a set and having nail-engaging projections corresponding to each series.

11. A nail-supplying apparatus comprising a plurality of tubes each pn'ovided with an opening in a portion of its wall fined against movement, an oscillatory member having spaced projections movable into the tubes, and a traveling device provided with nail-holding passages movable into alinement with the tubes.

12. A nail-supplying apparatus comprising a plurality of: tubes each provided with an opening in its wall, an oscillatory member having spaced projections movable into the tubes, and a device provided with sets of nail-holding passages movable into alinement with the tubes.

13. A nail-supplying apparatus comprising a plate provided wit-h a series of openings, a carriage movable over the plate and havingpassages each arranged to contain a series of nails, and means for moving the carriage to bring different passages into alinement with the openings and for controlling the successive delivery of nails from the passages. v

i 14. A nail-supplying apparatus comprising a plate provided with a series of open- I ings, a carriage movable over the plate and having passages each arranged to contain a series of nails, means for moving the carriage step by step to bring different sets of passages into alinement with the openings, nail-tubes depending from the openings, and a nail-controlling member movable through the sides of the tubes.

15. The combination with a traveling holder arranged to contain fastenings in a series resting one upon another, of means fixed relatively to the travel of the holder for controlling the delivery of fastenings from the holder, and a device movable to transfer fastenings delivered from the holder and arranged to actuate the controlling meansi 16. A supplying apparatus comprising a holder arranged to contain a plurality of fastenings in a vertical series, means arranged to control the successive delivery of the lowermost fastenings one by one from a series, means acting upon the completion of delivery from said series for bringing another series into delivering position, and a device movable to transfer fastenings delivered'from the holder and arranged to actuate both of said means.

17. The combination with a traveling holder arranged to containnails in a vertical series, of a retaining member arranged to oscillate about a fixed point into engagement with successive nails of the series, and a movable nail-loader arranged to actuate the retaining member.

18. The combination with a movable holding device arranged to contain a plurality of series of nails, of a retaining member movable into engagement with successive nails of the series, a mechanism for moving the holding device to bring successive series of nails into co-operation with the retaining member, and a movable device arranged to both actuate the retaining member and the holder-moving mechanism.

19. The combination with a movable holding device arranged to'contain a plurality of series of nails, of a retaining member movable into engagement with successive nails of the series,a mechanism for moving the holding device to bring successive series of nailsto a delivering point, and anail-loader movable to the delivering point and arranged to successively actuate the retaining member and the holder-moving mechanism.

20. The combination with a movable device having a plurality of nail-holding pussages, of a member movable to control the simultaneous delivery of'nails from a plurality of the passages, mechanism for moving the holding device to bring passages successively into co-operation with the controlling member, and a movable nail-transferring device arranged to actuate the controlling member for each transferring movement and to actuate the moving mechanism after a plurality of such movements.

21. The combination with a plate provided with a series of openings, of a carriage movable over the plate and having passages arranged to receive series of nails, an oscillatory detent associated with the openings, ratchet mechanism for moving the carriage to bring sets of passages into alinement with the openings, and means common to both for oscillating the detent and actuating the ratchet mechanism.

22. The combination with a plate provided with a series of openings, of a carriage movable over the plate and having passages arranged to receive series of nails, an oscillatory detent associated with the openings, ratchet mechanism for moving the carriage to bring sets of passages into alinement with the openings, and a nail-loader movable into receiving posit-ion beneath the openings and arranged to there act upon both the detent and ratchet mechanism.

23. The combination with a plate provided with a series of openings, of a carriage movable over the plate and having passages arranged to receive series of nails, an oscillatory detent associated with the openings, ratchet .mechanism for moving the carriage to bring sets of passages into alinement with the openings, a member connected to the detent, a contact member movable by said detent member and acting upon the ratchet mechanism, and a nail-loader movable into contact with the detent member.

24. The combination with a plate provided with a series of openings, of a carriage movable over the plate and having passages arranged to receive series of nails, an oscillatory detent associated with the openings, ratchet mechanism for moving the carriage to bring sets of passages into :|linc ment with the openings, a reciprocatory membereonnected to the detent, a pawl carried by said member, a ratchet-wheel rotatable by the pawl, and a cam turning with the ratchet-wheel and acting upon the ratchet mechanism.

25. In a nail-supplying apparatus, a nailholdcr comprising top and bot-tom plates spaced from each other and having successive sets of alinedv pairs of openings, and

tubes secured in the pairs of openings and each arranged to contain a series of nails.

26. A supplying apparatus comprising a movable holder arranged to contain a plurality of vertical series of fastenings, means arranged to control the successive delivery of the lowermost fastening; one by one from a series, and connections to the controlling means arranged to bring another series into 10 delivering position.

27. A supplying apparatus comprising a In testimony Whereoi I have signed my 20 named to this specification.

ELMER R. POPE. 

